Mexico City, September 17 (RHC)-- Relatives of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who disappeared are cutting off all dialogue with the Mexican government after the lead investigator resigned for allegedly tampering with evidence -- and was then awarded with a promotion.

Thomas Zeron de Lucio was the former director of criminal investigations responsible for overseeing the Ayotzinapa case.  He resigned Wednesday but Ayotzinapa relatives accuse President Enrique Peña Nieto of rewarding Zeron with a higher paying position as technical secretary of the National Security Council.  That comes after a new independent study debunked the government narrative on the disappearance of the students in Guerrero.

"Enough, no more lies or simulations,” Felipe de la Cruz, spokesperson for the families, said during a press conference in Mexico City.  “That's the requirement.  Until it is completed -- until Thomas Zeron de Lucio is investigated and punished -- the parents will not be returning to the talks."
 
The government’s official version says local police apprehended the students, and handed them over to a gang known as Guerreros Unidos.  Authorities claim the gang killed the students and burned their bodies in a garbage dump nearly 20 miles south of the town of Iguala, and that the remains were later dumped in the San Juan River near the town of Cocula.

Forensic evidence, fire investigations, and satellite images, however, have repeatedly cast doubt on the government’s claims.